Schal Sels

The cycling race was named after the famous bicycle journalist Jacques-Charles Cels, who spoke six languages ​​and wrote for 17 daily newspapers, an associate of Henri Degrange and the inventor of the “ broom machine ”. On May 7, 1920, he died tragically during reconnaissance of the Milan-Antwerp cycling race route, which was to be deployed three months later at the Summer Olympic Games in Antwerp . He was driving in a car in which the rear axle suddenly broke. Cels tried to jump out, but the car landed right on him, killing the journalist and his colleague from Brussels, Jacques Brooks. In memory of a successful journalist, the Parisian newspaper Le Journal organized a bike ride in 1921, giving rise to Schal Sels.

The first issue of the competition took place on Monday, May 23, 1921. Racers started from Garden City Velodrome in Vilrejk . The race, 173 kilometers long, took place in hot weather and ended with a sprint of a group of 14 riders, the strongest of which was Rene Vermandel . According to the rules, the winner cycling club was obliged to organize a race next year, but they could not do it. As a result, in 1922 the race did not take place.

In 1923, the bike ride was resumed. This time it started in the Chapel . Rene Vermandel won the victory for the second time in a row. Starting next year, Merksem became the start and finish place. During World War II, the competition was interrupted twice for two years.

Until 1998, both professionals and amateurs had the right to participate in the race. In 1997, Schal Sels began to be held as part of the UCI racing calendar, having received the lowest possible category of 1.5, which further allowed admission to the race. But the organizers were not embarrassed, as well-known racers came to the race that year, in particular Johan Museuv and Tom Stealth . The latter became its winner. The following year, UCI upgraded the one-day category to 1.4, which made it purely professional. In 2003, the race received an even higher category - 1.3, and in 2005, with the creation of continental cycling competitions under the auspices of UCI, it entered the UCI Europe Tour calendar under category 1.1 .

The change in status guaranteed the attention of the media: the race began to be broadcast on television. In 2004, the competition was shown on the Sporza channel, and a year later on VT4 . In 2007, the Antwerp channel ATV acquired the rights to broadcast.

In 2014, for the first time since 1945, the one-day event did not take place due to repair work at the finish.

August 30, 2015 was the jubilee 90th edition of Schal Sels. In this regard, the organizers prepared a special route, which included 30 kilometers of paved sections and 19 kilometers of dirt roads. Known in the past, cyclists Nico Mattan and Johan Museuv were involved in organizing the race. The first became the director of the race, and the second - his assistant. Robin Stenoyt won the jubilee edition, ahead of Oliver Nassen in the final sprint.

• Official Website (eng.) (Nid.)
• Schal Sels at FirstCycling
• Schal Sels on ProCyclingStats